Wizard Of Cosmos

23 - We Need To Celebrate

‘Hm?’

Jason received an alert on his armband as he entered the Forestedge. 

‘This still amazed me.’

He wondered if players started to realise the alerts coming from the armband weren’t audible from outside. The sound directly came to the brain, instead of the ear. 

‘What does this supposed to mean?’

It was a private message from Ben or Poseidon. He was asking him to delay the transaction until tomorrow. 

‘Huh? Freya and Ashley? Did they use some connections to buy the cabins? Or did they have applied before?’

According to Ben, Freya and Ashley entered the game today. He was asking Jason to delay the transaction until they were ready to receive the money.

Jason had to wait two weeks to get the clarification, and he didn’t think these two women would have applied to play The Endless. That questionnaire wasn’t the only thing that should be a part of the evaluation. It wasn’t hard to copy the answers. There should be some investigations involved in the process. 

‘Was it because of our fight? Hm… Whatever. I might be able to get more money by tomorrow.’

Jason simply replied, asking Ben to give Ashley and Freya his Player ID for convenience. As for the so-called Guild chat, he didn’t waste any time looking at it.

‘I’ll first try to sell these and see what are the available buildings in the town.’

Since he left Forestedge in a hurry, he still didn’t get to look at the available facilities.

…

‘Ninety-eight silvers, this is far more than what I expected.’

He had a total of ninety-eight silvers after selling his share of gems and other valuables in the small pawn shop in Forestedge. Also, he found a shabby-looking building that was a small chamber of commerce that belonged to the kingdom of Alexandria. 

He entered the old Inn in a content mood. Today, the guards looked less cautious, and he saw several players going in and out of the building. He also saw several people distributing food to the players near the spawn point.

‘Well, this place is crowded.’

In just two days, Boris looked aged by a couple of years. 

Jason saw Boris’ companions sitting in the far corner.  

He tried to walk in without bothering the already tired man.

“Ah… Jason. It is you.”

‘Huh?’

Jason saw a wide smile blooming on Mr Boris’ face.

“Did you complete the task?”

The middle-aged man suddenly started working toward him.

“Ah… Yes. It is no hurry….”

He wasn’t in a hurry, and he had many things to discuss. Since there were many people, he was ready to wait, but Boris didn’t even let him complete the sentence. 

“Nonsense. You obviously had an important mission. You all should wait until I deal with Jason. Please be patient.”

Jason would have believed this if not for the fact that he knew what the message was. Besides, Boris simply looked overjoyed when he said the latter part of the sentence.

‘I am the scapegoat.’

Jason felt speechless as Boris dragged him to the corner.

“Who is this player?”

“Didn’t the envoy say he was on a mission? Why didn’t we receive any quests?”

The passionate gazes of the players and their voices made Jason’s skin crawl. They were looking at him as if he was a juicy apple. 

Boris’ words and his sword coupled with the bag he had on his side were too luxurious for the current players. 

“What happened to the mission?”

‘It was just a simple message.’

Jason complained in his heart as he sat across the table from Boris. 

“Well… Here it is.”

Jason handed the proof given by Master Merlin to Boris.

“You don’t mind me having lunch, don't you?”

He ignored Boris and took out the small parcel from his bag. There was dried meat and some honey.

“Oh, someone even packed you lunch? A little bird told me someone killed a mutated wolf.”

“It wasn’t mature.”

Jason gave a shrug while shoving a piece of meat dipped in honey into his mouth.

As for the lunch, he was grateful for this, but the person who gave it to him said that he already paid for the food. Even if Jason didn’t want lunch, he wasn’t foolish enough to reject goodwill from a very unpredictable Grandmaster.

‘I like Mr Xanders better. At least he is openly an Assassin.’

The intense gazes of players were tracking almost all his moves.

‘Since you want to admire me so much, Mr Boris. Let me give you something to admire about.’

Jason used one hand to take the bluish medal out of his bag. 

It was made of magic stones valued at over ten gold coins. However, the symbol in the middle made it even more valuable. 

It was an engraving of a circle that looked like a ball of water with droplets leaking down. This was how wizards envisioned the magic spheres and mana leaking into the world. Jason didn’t know if this concept was correct or not, but he knew the meaning of this medal.

“You… You are… You became Master Merlin’s apprentice!”

Boris almost jumped off the bench, and Jason felt he might go deaf if this boorish guy yelled more.

Three adventurers almost jumped at them when they heard Boris, and even the owner of the venue, who usually stayed behind the counter, came to see the medal. 

“Congratulations, Jason.”

“Thank you very much, Ms Sharon. I survived the day before because of your sword. If you need any help in the future, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“It is….”

Sharon was about to reject it, but she eyed the medal once more. In the future, this young man would actually have the strength to back up his words. 

Usually, the Wizard Initiates were chosen as teenagers. Some powerful countries and noble families would try to train their children even younger. As for Jason, to be chosen at this age meant he had some great hidden potential. 

‘A Wizard, maybe even higher….’

Sharon didn’t know what she should think anymore. 

“I hope you won’t forget us in the future, sir Initiate, Jason.”

She addressed him formally, trying to squeeze out a smile. 

“Sure, Ms Sharon. On that account. Mr Boris, you know my master, right?”

“Ah… Yes.”

Boris didn’t know how he should address this man anymore. He was skilled with the sword and was now chosen by a wizard. This was a genius. 

‘I have to report to his Majesty.’

“What should I bring as a gift to my master?”

Jason knew the basic traditions of Yuriel. 

“A gift? Oh, wait.”

Boris rushed upstairs, leaving a baffled Jason behind. He returned carrying a few items.

“Here, Jason. This is premium tobacco from the central continent. Something Master Merin would surely appreciate. You can give it as a gift, and this is fifty silver as the fee for your mission.”

Jason looked at the pouch that smelled like tobacco. The fee for delivery was also about a hundred times higher than normal. 

“This must be expensive, Mr Boris.”

“It is nothing, Jason. Don’t mind. This is my gift to you for becoming a wizard initiate.”

Boris gave another leather pouch to Jason. There were three small bottles with red liquid, and one bottle looked exquisite.

Jason knew what these were already. Because he had many of these when he left the human cities for missions during the period of invasion.

“These are healing potions. Two low-grade ones and one medium-grade. Medium grade one can heal many wounds.”

Boris explained what Jason already knew.

“These are precious gifts, Mr Boris.”

Jason had these when he was on missions because the number of human survivors gathered and every life was valuable. As for the price, a low-grade healing potion would be a couple of golds at this period. Although it might not be much for an official Master Swordsman.

“It is nothing much to me. I would have given more if I had, Jason. Sadly, Forestedge has no potion sellers.”

“Then I will gladly accept.”

Jason knew how valuable these were at this stage to him. It could easily save him eighteen hours of penalty. The low-grade ones could save him from wounds similar to the ones he got from the mutated wolf.

He knew Boris was trying to establish a good bond with him, and he had no reason to reject him. 

“You should. And don’t hesitate if you have any more requests.”

“Actually, I am looking for something, Mr Boris. I wonder if there are bandits around.”

“Bandits? Why do you need them?”

“For cheap labour, of course.”

“Cheap labour?”

Sharon was puzzled.

“If we cut off the rotten part, Ms Sharon, bandits are the cheapest group who have experience in using weapons.”

“Weapons? Why do you need them?”

Boris frowned.

Honestly, Jason apparently had too much potential, and even a potential to become a threat.

“Not for me. It is the village leader of Light Shone, looking for them. He is worried about a potential war.”

This was another point Jason wanted to make clear.

“So, they already know.”

The sentence from Boris immediately confirmed the possibility.

“How long do we have, Mr Boris?”

If what Xanders said was true, the players would also be in trouble.

“Maximum of two years, lad. Sigh, it is not looking good.”

“Two years maximum?”

Jason pondered his options. 

“Mr Boris. Now is not the time. Let’s have a toast to Sir Jason. Corr, bring us beer. We need to celebrate.”

Marco, the adventurer who gave Jason the waterskin stepped in to lighten the mood.